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After December 4, 2016 you will no longer be able to access your 529 plan accounts using Windows XP. Please upgrade your computer to a supported version of Windows to continue to access your accounts. Additional information on Windows XP can be found
here.

Managing Your Account

Good job! You’ve opened your Minnesota College Savings Plan account — you’re on the road to saving for college. Now, discover everything you need to know to manage your account online or by mail.

Making Contributions & Withdrawals

Getting money into or from your account are among the most frequent transactions you’ll make with your Minnesota College Savings Plan account. Here are all the ways you can do it, whether online or by mail.

Have you received a tax return, bonus, inheritance, or other lump sum you wish to put towards saving for college? To make a one-time electronic funds transfer from a checking or savings account to your 529 plan, follow these instructions.

What You’ll Need

If you haven’t already set up your payment information, or if you wish to make this contribution from a different bank account, you will first need to Update Your Account Information with the following information:

How to Do It

If no allocation instructions are on file indicate how you would like the contribution split amongst your investment options.

Select the bank account from the drop down menu.

Select continue.

Verify all contribution information is correct.

Select submit and you’re done!

Setting up Bill Pay with your Bank

Simplify regular contributions to your 529 Account by the click of a button on the Bill Pay option using your own Bank. Pay privately, securely and reliably. Save time and stay efficient by using your Bank’s Bill Pay feature.

To set up your Bill Pay online with your Bank, please use the following information:

Name of Payee:
Minnesota College Savings Plan

Address:

PO Box 219455
Kansas City, MO 64121-9455
1-877-338-4646

Complete the memo line:

Include the account’s four digit investment option (fund) number1, followed by a hyphen, and the account number. E.g. xxxx-xxxxxxx. (Please note that account numbers generally are between six and ten digits).

With the Minnesota College Savings Plan you get more ways to pay. With a minimum $25 dollar contribution, you can make an additional one-time payment using a personal check, Teller’s Check or Cashier’s check.

With the Minnesota College Savings Plan, making regular contributions automatically is easy and worry-free. Set up recurring contributions from your checking or savings account to your 529 plan in minutes. Once complete, you can change automatic contributions to your account at any time.

Everyone wants to help a child succeed in life. One of the most unique features of your Minnesota College Savings Plan account is the capability to ask for help from friends and family. Send them an eGift Invitation for a special occasion, like a birthday, holiday, graduation or one-time event, and help grow your account.

You might also want to share the Minnesota College Savings Plan website’s gift certificate form with potential gift givers, like grandparents or aunts and uncles, who may wish to send a contribution without an invitation.

What You’ll Need

To send friends and family an eGift Invitation, you’ll need:

The names and email addresses of everyone you’re sending invites to

The home or mailing addresses of the recipients if you’re also creating letters to be mailed

How to Do It

Choose the investment you want your gift contributions to be credited towards.

Create a new invitation by adding an occasion, such as a birthday or holiday. Include the occasion’s name, date, and the invitation’s message you want within the invitation. Optionally, you may also type an additional message in the body of the email.

Add contacts, including a name and salutation. You may write your own email greeting or use one of our templates. If selecting email, enter the contacts email addresses.

Select the contacts you want to send the invitations to.

Send the invitations!

Making Gift Contributions

As a friend or family member, one of the best gifts you can offer is a gift contribution to a child’s Minnesota College Savings Plan account. You can mail a gift in by using our downloadable gift certificate form, though you will need to request a few key pieces of account information.

If you work for a participating company or organization, saving for your Minnesota College Savings Plan account just got even easier. With contribution minimums as low as $15 per pay period, you can setup payroll deduction to your account. And don’t worry — if you want to make changes down the road, you may do so whenever you like.

What You’ll Need

Before setting up or changing your Payroll Deduction, you’ll need to have your Employee Information, including:

How to Manage an Incoming Rollover from another 529 College Savings Plan Account

If you already have a college savings account, wonderful! You’re that much further ahead. And there’s more good news. With the Minnesota College Savings Plan you’re allowed to rollover the partial or complete balance from any other 529 plan into your account.

How to Do It

Select the investment options you want your contribution to be credited towards.

Check with your previous plan to confirm if they require a Medallion signature guarantee before submitting the form.

Mail the completed form and you’re done!

Additional Information

To make this change free of federal taxes and penalties, the plan you’re transferring funds from must have the same designated beneficiary or a qualifying family member as beneficiary. Consult your tax advisor.

Redemption of Proceeds from a Coverdell ESA or Qualified U.S. Savings Bond

With the Minnesota College Savings Plan you can roll certain existing educational accounts into your plan. For instance, if you’ve been using a Coverdell account or savings bonds to pay for your child’s primary or secondary education and you still have funds left, you can transfer part or all of those proceeds to your account. As long as the beneficiary is the same, you can even do it free from federal taxes and penalties.

How to Do It

Select one of these two options from the Source of Contribution Funds section:

a. Proceeds from the withdrawal of a Coverdell Education Savings Account option.

b. Proceeds from the redemption of a qualified US savings bond.

Choose whether you’re transferring the full or partial balance.

Select the investment options you want your contribution to be credited towards.

Mail the completed form and you’re done!

Additional Information

For a Coverdell ESA, you must submit an account statement issued by the financial institution that acted as trustee or custodian of the Coverdell ESA that shows the principal and earnings portions of the redemption proceeds.

If you’re contributing amounts from a savings bond, you must submit an account statement or IRS Form 1099-INT issued by the financial institution that redeemed the bonds showing the interest portion of the redemption proceeds. Consult your tax advisor.

Are you getting ready to withdraw funds for the first time? If so, you’ll find you can make a withdrawal online, by mail, or by calling us. But there are few things to be aware of. Withdrawals fall into three categories: qualified, taxable and non-qualified. You can find out more about the differences here. Only qualified withdrawals may be made without federal income tax or penalties.

Please note: distributions from a Minnesota Matching Grant account will be made only by requesting your qualified withdrawal using the Withdrawal Request Form and submitting it to the Plan by mail. Please refer to the Disclosure Booklet for additional information about the Matching Grants.

What You’ll Need for an Online Transfer

If you haven’t already set up an account to receive the funds, for either yourself or the beneficiary, you will need to Update Your Account Information with the following details:

Checking or savings account number

Bank routing number

Name as it appears on the account

Bank’s name and telephone number

Otherwise, you will receive the funds by check.

It’s important to keep in mind you won’t be able to withdraw a contribution until 10 days after receipt of that contribution. Please note, if you change:

Your mailing address

Banking information

Add a new bank account

Or transfer the account to a new owner, no withdrawals may be made for 30 days. Additional requirements may apply to requests of $100,000 or more.

Additional Information

If you take a withdrawal from the Minnesota College Savings Plan, sometime during the tax season you will likely receive a 1099Q for any withdrawals made the previous year. This tax document includes the total of all withdrawals you make during a given year and may be taxable depending on the withdrawal type.

Transfer Account Ownership

At some point, you may find you want to transfer ownership of your account to another individual or entity eligible to be an Account Owner. You can make this transfer by submitting the appropriate Plan form. This in effect opens a new account for the beneficiary with the new owner. It’s important to note, depending upon who the new owner is in relation to the beneficiary, taking this action can have various tax implications.

What You’ll Need

To complete this process you do not need to change the Beneficiary if you transfer Account ownership, but you’ll need:

Over the lifetime of your account you’ll probably need to change contact information, bank instructions, notifications, password, and security questions. With the Minnesota College Savings Plan you can do all of it in one place online, or fill out and mail in the form.

Would you also like to receive confirmations of account activity in addition to quarterly as well as annual account statements online? Why not set up eDelivery? It’s faster, more convenient and environmentally friendly.

What You’ll Need to Do It Online

To complete this process you do not need to change the Beneficiary if you transfer Account ownership, but you’ll need:

Depending upon when you open your Minnesota College Savings Plan account, you will likely have it for years, even decades. If you didn’t add a contingent account owner at creation, you may want to designate one in the event of your death or change the existing contingent account owner as your life situation changes. For instance, say you’re a parent who put your kid through school and now they’re starting a family of their own. If there are funds remaining you could designate your child as the contingent account owner to use for their own children.

Though you can only rebalance existing funds twice per year, you can choose to add an investment option for any new contribution at the time you make it. You may also set up allocation instructions for how you would like any future contributions credited to your account.

Consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses before investing in the Minnesota College Savings Plan. Please call toll-free 1-877-338-4646 or click here for a Disclosure Booklet containing this and other information. Read it carefully. Investments in the plan are neither insured nor guaranteed and there is the risk of investment loss.

Before investing in a 529 plan, you should consider whether the state you or your designated beneficiary reside in or have taxable income in has a 529 plan that offers favorable state income tax or other benefits such as financial aid, scholarship funds or protection from creditors that are only available if you invest in that state’s 529 plan.

Consult your legal or tax professional for tax advice, including the impact of the new federal tax changes. If the funds are not used for qualified education expenses, a 10% penalty tax on earnings (as well as federal and state income taxes) may apply.

The Minnesota College Savings Plan is offered by the State of Minnesota. TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. (TFI), program manager. TIAA-CREF Individual & Institutional Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC, distributor and underwriter for the Minnesota College Savings Plan.

The Plan Web site is for informational purposes only, and does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any security that may be referenced on the site. Such offer or solicitation can be made only through the Disclosure Booklet.

The Plan Web site contains links to other Web sites. Neither the Plan nor TFI and its affiliates are responsible for the content of those other Web sites. The accuracy of information on those sites cannot be confirmed.